Green evaluation systems for project sustainability

Abstract

There is growing concern about the environmental impacts of construction activities, and green evaluation systems have been advocated as effective tools for reviewing, monitoring and checking project sustainability in the construction industry. This paper focuses on developing a set of criteria for green evaluation systems in measuring project sustainability in construction by proposing an innovative methodology, a power spectrum, for analysing dominant criteria in the system from questionnaire survey results. The results indicate that ‘other measures for reducing waste pollution’, ‘top management support’ and ‘maintenance of equipment’ are the top three criteria for green evaluation systems for improving overall environmental performance, while ‘research and development’, ‘training’ and ‘monitoring water usage’ were the three lowest criteria for improving environmental performance. This paper identifies several major measures for improving project sustainability in the Australian construction industry. Although the industry comprises unique projects, such measures can still help practitioners choose suitable methods for effective improvement in project sustainability. This paper provides a useful background for the development of project sustainability and provides an insight into effective implementation of green evaluation systems in construction activities.